Mental health: community-based services.

Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. Existing law provides for a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program and provides for specified services, including various mental health services. Existing federal law, the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, requires the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to, among other things, award, no later than January 1, 2016, planning grants to states for the purpose of developing proposals to participate in time-limited demonstration programs to improve mental health services provided by certified community behavioral health clinics to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. This bill would require the department to apply to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to be selected as a participating state in the time-limited demonstration program to receive enhanced federal matching funds for mental health services provided by certified community behavioral health clinics if the department applies for, and is awarded, a planning grant to develop its proposal to participate in the demonstration program. The bill would require the department to work with counties and other stakeholders in developing its proposal. The bill would also require the proposal to require that counties may not be selected to participate unless they include plans to redirect a portion of the funds currently used to match federal funds to providing increased housing opportunities for individuals with severe mental illnesses, as specified.